For the vast majority of biotech companies, the head of research and design has to worry about stockholders, profit and all the other effects that come with a tradable company.

Dr. Steven G. Reed ’73, founder, director and head of research and development for the Infectious Disease Research Institute, doesn’t have to worry about any of that while running IDRI: his institute is a non-profit.

On Thursday, Oct. 18, Reed spoke to an audience at Reid campus center about the IDRI’s work on vaccine development, their commitment to finding cures and treatments that still burden many in the developing world.

Reed’s organization, founded in 1993, focuses on diagnostics and development of vaccines for “neglected diseases” such as leishmaniasis, leprosy and chagas disease. The IDRI is also doing continuous research on vaccines for tuberculosis and malaria, having already created the first defined vaccine for tuberculosis along with biotech company Corixa/GSK.

The lecture, titled “A Non-profit Biotech Model for Global Health Solutions, or Developing Vaccines on a Shoestring,” also explained the IDRI’s unique funding model, a blend of federal and private grants (the most recent contribution a $32 million grant from the Gates foundation), licensing royalties from IDRI-developed products, industry investments and other sources, all of which goes toward research.

IDRI has been successful at least in part as a result of its collaboration with large pharmaceutical companies. According to Reed, IDRI has access to the world’s largest chemical compound library, largely thanks to contributions of normally closely kept information by Eli Lilly and Merck & Co. Reed also founded biotech company Corixa in 1994 to collaborate with IDRI in development activities.

“If you’re doing good science, [pharmaceutical companies] will want to work with you. You just have to learn how to do what you want without taking away their incentives,” Reed said.

Reed completed his undergraduate career at Whitman and is now a research professor of pathobiology at the University of Washington in addition to running IDRI.

According to Reed, the main challenge of a non-profit biotech company is meeting “real needs that don’t have real markets” in countries where IDRI’s vaccines could make a significant impact.

“The biggest problem is convincing these governments to take on these diseases of the poor,” Reed said. “Because the money is there.”

Reed’s lecture was presented by the Whitman Career Center and paid for by the Sava and Danica Andjelkovic endowment, a fund that brings distinguished alumni to Whitman to share information about their careers with current students.
According to Career Center Director Susan Buchanan, Reed was an ideal speaker for the series.

“Dr. Reed exemplifies ‘making a difference’ with his company’s research and the creative collaboration with for-profit health care companies enabling him to provide life-saving vaccines to the world’s poor,” Buchanan said.

First-year Rachel Sicheneder has not yet selected a major, much less a career, but said the lecture helped pique her interest in biology-related fields.

“I think biology lets you do research in a lot of different places and help the people who need it,” she said. “Medicines like Viagra get funding, but vaccines that need it, like those for tuberculosis and malaria, don’t.”